Do you know what is the jelly like matter on this comb?

Beekeeping - Basics
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Hi,

During an inspection of one of my hives, I came across this nearly full comb sitting beside a newly introduced FlowFrame. The bees seems to behave normally and it is certainly different to normal honey. I have left it as is and wanted to know if anyone knows what it is.

Thanks in anticipation.

Kind regards

Thilak from Jerrabomberra, NSW, Australia

IMG_2408.jpg4032Ă—3024 2.28 MB

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baby bees! :slight_smile:

have you got a bee mentor or part of a beekeeping group?

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Looks like nectar/honey crystallising in the comb. Its not brood related. Use a matchstick or something similar to scrape out some of it. Rub between your fingers to determine if its smooth or gritty. Crystallised honey will be gritty. Give it a taste if your game, I think you’ll find its bee food. What is flowering in your area at the moment? Mellaleuca, Paperbarks?

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[quote=“Rodderick, post:3, topic:6659”]

Thanks Roderick. That was my guess, but wan not game enough to try. Yes, Mellaleuca, Paperbarks are flowering now.

I will check it next week and report.

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I agree with @Rodderick, looks like crystallized honey. Not brood imho - pattern is wrong. Also the caps on the other cells are pretty sunken, so they definitely aren’t brood, and it suggests that the stores may have been dehydrating. The only other possibility that I would consider is pollen/bee bread, but that would depend on the location in the frame. The capped cells would not be pollen.

So on balance, I think it is crystallized honey. :wink:

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Hi Thilak, I came to the same conclusion as @Rodderick & @Dawn_SD, crystallized honey. Needless to say, you wont want that in your flow frames.

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Just in case: How would I get crystallized honey out of the flow frames? Can they be heated up? With a hot air gun or hair dryer?

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It’s bee bread
The bees add nectar to pollen, it ferments and that’s what it looks like.

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It really helps to be there. A lot gets lost in a picture. I had to look closely. At first I thought it was brood, but then I can’t find larvae shapes in it. Then I thought maybe bee bread but it’s too white and shiny and uneven. I think it’s crystallized honey. Bee bread tends too look more uniform and flat from them packing it in with their heads. Also pollen is typically yellow or orange or purple, but seldom that uniformly white. The packed pollen looks perfectly flat. Sometimes they cover that with a film of honey, but usually not thick. So I think it’s crystallized honey.

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Thanks everyone for your thoughtful reflections. I agree with you all that it is christianised honey, porbably drawn from tea trees that were flowing over the last few weeks. Certainly not brood, as the queen is restricted to the brood compartment.

Thanks again for resolving my mystery. Hope we all learnt something.
:slight_smile:

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Chritianised honey?

Is that when you have it baptised? :grin:

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I’ve got one real angry hive, I wonder…

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maybe its possessed… time for an exorcism with christianised honey!? haha

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